Arbeidsinnvandringssituasjonen i Norge etter 1975

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Abstract

Norway is about to meet a new and significant challenge. The country is no longer able
to supply itself with the required labour, and will most probably in the future have to
import considerable amounts of such resources. This is the contextual backdrop for this
paper, which contains an introductory presentation of the development in the field of
labour migration in Norway since 1975. However, the main focus of the paper is on the
new labour market situation that is taking shape in Norway, and on the resulting
changes in Norwegian theory and practice concerning labour immigration from
regions outside the Nordic countries, the European Union, and North-America.
Apart from a brief period of liberalisation 1957—1975, Norway has always had
considerable restrictions on labour immigration. The «immigration stop» that was
introduced in 1975 in practice hit immigration from non-western regions of the world
only. Immigration from these regions has nevertheless increased since 1975, due to the
increased flow of refugees and family reunification. One may therefore state that the
import of cheap labour from these regions has indirectly continued since the direct
import was phased out in 1975 – to the benefit of Norwegian industry and other sectors
of business. However, the significant use the country has had of this labour is to a large
extent neglected in the immigration debate, which tends to focus on immigration as a
problem and liability.
Since the mid 1990s the need for import of qualified labour has become
increasingly clear in Norway. The debate and policy related to this need reflect ideas
established by the 1975 immigration stop that labour from «foreign-cultural» regions of
the world is undesired in Norway. Hence, the country is apparently unwilling to make
use of the possibility of social upgrading of the immigration population in Norway
that is contained in recruitment of qualified labour in high demand from these parts of
the world.